WALLINGFORD, Conn., March 30 /PRNewswire/ — Proton Energy Systems today announced a major technological milestone involving its advanced high pressure, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis technology. Proton has demonstrated more than 18,000 hours of hydrogen generation at 2,400 psi, without any external mechanical compression. The ability to produce hydrogen at elevated pressure will help reduce the hydrogen storage footprint in applications where space is a premium. Additionally, producing high pressure hydrogen without generating high pressure oxygen provides a safer, more cost effective on-site hydrogen solution. The elimination of a mechanical compressor in the system makes it possible to reduce the overall capital cost and operating cost of the installation. Proton’s commercial PEM based hydrogen generation systems are capable of running continuously at up to 400 psi and typically require external mechanical compression to achieve higher pressures. The advancement in PEM based, high pressure electrolysis marks a breakthrough that will have far-reaching implications for current and future applications across a broad spectrum of markets.

Proton is the world’s leading supplier of onsite hydrogen generators utilizing PEM technology, which creates high purity hydrogen from de-mineralized water and electricity. Proton’s PEM electrolysis systems are utilized across a variety of industries, including power, military and aerospace and laboratories. And, with this latest advancement, the company continues to lead the market in hydrogen innovation.

“We are thrilled to announce this technological milestone in PEM technology, which has a variety of significant implications, including better efficiency, cost reduction potential and system simplification,” said
Everett Anderson, Director of Technology at Proton Energy Systems. “Our mission at Proton Energy is to continue to develop and apply hydrogen technology in creative and practical ways, and ultimately these advances will translate into even better reliability, durability and value for our customers.”

Proton has successfully developed and deployed these high pressure systems to strategic partners both domestically and internationally for evaluation, one of which has been testing successfully for more than a year. With the ability to increase durability, reliability and efficiency, this breakthrough has major potential across industries — including power, military, aerospace, homeland security, and other sectors that require or could benefit from high pressure hydrogen.

The 2,400 psi milestone was achieved while at the same time also increasing the hydrogen production by a factor of four from previous high pressure hydrogen generation systems. The 2,400 psi advancement is also in line with Proton’s ultimate goal of generating hydrogen at 5,000 psi, without external mechanical compression and with the same reliability and durability.

Proton Energy has also announced a second technological breakthrough that has major efficiency and cost savings implications. Proton has worked to achieve a 20 percent improvement in efficiency of its commercial PEM platform. At the same time, additional efforts aimed at cost reduction of the cell stack membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) have netted almost a 30 percent savings in material cost. This is significant because the MEA represents the single highest cost component within the electrochemical stack.

Proton Energy Systems is a global leader in hydrogen technology, and its commitment to innovation has been recognized repeatedly during the past several months with several military projects, including a $2.62 million contract with the U.S. Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to develop a Regenerative Fuel Cell System, and a $1.8 million contract with the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to create an advanced fueling system capable of sustaining a military fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Proton Energy Systems designs and manufactures proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrochemical systems to make hydrogen from water in a zero pollution process producing safe, pure, reliable onsite hydrogen to meet today’s global hydrogen requirements. Proton Energy Systems has been developing and manufacturing world-class electrolysis systems since 1996, with more than 1500 units deployed world-wide, on every continent. With a reputation for building robust, reliable, and safe systems, federal, state, and commercial partners repeatedly seek the creative solutions that Proton Energy Systems has proven it is capable of delivering.